Friends of Cedar Church Release 'Love, Hope & Glory On The Horizon' Album
Andrew Kisumba is Senior Pastor of Cedar Church, Birmingham. He is a man with a heart for his community and a love and talent of conveying and expressing God’s love through a merging of contemporary gospel and pop music which he does as the leader of the musical collective known as Friends of Cedar Church.
He moved from his previous church in Huddersfield 4 years ago where he served as an Elder and Trustee overseeing various groups including the Worship Team, which at one time consisted of nearly150 members; band, singers, choir, orchestra, sound and media technicians. This involved everything from leading worship, writing, arranging and organising material for in-house programmes, local events and national media, to producing original music for performances featured on BBC TV & Radio, by National Music For Youth in The Royal Albert Hall.
Including 2 brand new recordings “Love is Good (Horizon 2020)’ and ‘Christmas Hope and Glory’ Andrew has compiled this stunning collection of songs all written by him and drawing from previous releases on his musical journey. All of them are themed around love and focussing on the love of God for us. The album will also raise funds for a project that is very close to his heart.
He explains, ”Birmingham is the youngest major city in Europe, with under 25s accounting for nearly 40% of its population. Local community is a vital bridge between where young people are and where they need to go and we believe a vibrant church is the perfect place for that to happen. Through wholesome mentoring, consistent care and inspiring fun-filled programmes, kids, teens and young adults are enabled to make the necessary positive connections beyond themselves and with others. As they discover the reason why they were born, they can reach their full potential in whatever they are purposed and destined for. We are releasing this compilation album to raise awareness and funds for a new youth facility called Revelation Room that will be used for local youth work in our local Kingstanding area of Birmingham, UK.”
On the 2 new songs Andrew shared “This year we’ve been asked by the West Midlands Mayor’s Office to arrange a community sing event over this seasonal period which is happening in early December. We have put new words to the tune of ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ by famous West Midlands composer Sir Edward Elgar and recorded this new uptempo version called, ‘Christmas Hope And Glory’. It’s familiar, fun and fresh and should be easy for people to sing a the community event. The other new song, which is the album’s opening track, ‘Love Is Good (Horizon 2020)’ looks ahead to the New Year.”
